The Redskins received a scare Wednesday afternoon when rookie offensive lineman Kili Lefotu was hospitalized for an undisclosed reason.

When Lefotu did not show up to practice on Wednesday evening, the Redskins' medical team and athletic trainers drove over to National Conference Center in Lansdowne, Va., to locate him. Upon finding Lefotu, they took the 6-5, 315-pound lineman to the hospital.

"He is under observation right now," Gibbs said.

Asked about Lefotu's condition when team officials found him, Gibbs replied: "It was a situation where we sent the medical group over there, and I think at first he was unconscious. They took him to the hospital and he's under observation. They said he's groggy and talking."

Gibbs declined to go into details about Lefotu's condition at this time.

Lefotu was the Redskins' seventh-round draft pick in last April's NFL Draft.

ASHBURN, Va. (Aug. 10, 2006) -- Washington Redskins rookie Kili Lefotu showed signs of improvement Aug. 10, and doctors were working to determine what caused him to lose consciousness in his room the day before.

Lefotu, an offensive lineman, was being treated at Loudoun County Hospital, where he underwent a series of tests.

"He's doing much better today," Redskins trainer Bubba Tyer said. "He feels good. He's talking. His fiance came in to be with him. I saw him this morning and he talked to me, called me by name. He has good memory. He can't remember exactly what happened to him yesterday."

Lefotu was found in his room at the National Conference Center, where the players are housed during training camp, after he failed to show up for the Aug. 9 7 p.m. practice. Tyer said Lefotu had been alert enough to ask an operator to call 911, then drifted in and out of consciousness after paramedics and team officials arrived.

"We never had a question with his breathing," Tyer said. "Pulse rate, heart were stable. ... We thought maybe a seizure, but not sure."

Tyer said the team hopes Lefotu can be released Aug. 11, pending the outcome of the tests. He said Lefotu's medical history showed no similar problems, and that the illness was not related to the heat.

Lefotu, 22, was a seventh-round draft pick from Arizona in this year's draft.

Bubba Tyer wrote:Lefotu was first hospitalized on Wednesday evening. Team officials first noticed that he was absent from Wednesday's practice and rushed over to his dorm room to locate him. Lefotu was conscious when team officials found him, but then the 6-5, 315-pound lineman "just passed out," Tyer said.

He was immediately transported to a local hospital. Initial tests on Lefotu were negative, but doctors wanted to keep him hospitalized to run more tests.

Team officials discounted Lefotu's condition as related to the heat.

"He is a big guy, and he had a good week of practice and work," Tyer said. "He wasn't any worse off than the other guys in regard to the heat. He wasn't one of the guys we had to IV earlier. It wasn't related to heat."

Offensive lineman Kili Lefotu was released from the hospital on Friday, but it's still uncertain what caused his illness last Wednesday. "All of the tests that came back, the doctors feel that he had a seizure, but the tests weren't conclusive," Redskins director of sports medicine Bubba Tyer said on Friday. "We are just going to keep an eye on him and slowly get him back."

The team had targeted Tuesday as a possible date that Lefotu could return to practice.